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Pacific castaway confesses he didn’t raise a single penny for charity

A fisherman who spent thirteen months in the Pacific has admitted that his last memory of leaving his home port was a nagging thought that he’d forgotten something, which after two months at sea he finally realised was sponsorship.

In an interview to CNN Mexico, Jose Salvador Alvarenga agreed that if he had bothered to collect sponsors, he would have raised thousands of dollars. ‘I Feel such a fool,’ he added.

Mr Alvarenga – who drank turtle blood during his voyage – said he would have liked to have used the money to help turtle conservation and distressed fishermen charities, and maybe do something positive for seagulls.

British charity fund raiser Jess Williams believed Mr Alvarenga had missed a great opportunity. ‘It’s so annoying,’ Mr Williams said. ‘You just don’t do stuff like that without sponsorship. Thirteen months of beard growth alone, that’s worth a fortune.’